Impact of Compressor Performance on the Flow Capacity of Gas Transmission Pipelines

Flow capacity of a gas transmission pipeline is usually affected by different parameters. In this study several determining factor are selected for sensitivity analysis of flow capacity prediction in IGAT-IV. These parameters include: pipeline parameters, gas parameters, system parameters, heat transfer parameters, compression parameters and compressor fuel consumption parameters. Detail calculation has been performed by developing a computer program by Microsoft Visual Basic. Moreover, a computer program for generating the compressor performance curve has been written by MATLAB. This curve has been used to design and optimize the compressor stations. From the present investigation, it has concluded that AGA Fully Turbulent, Colebrook-White and Weymouth equations have the best prediction of flow rate in gas transmission pipelines. 87.85 % flow changes due to 1% isentropic exponent change, which has a very large effect on the flow capacity. 10% to 30% flow changes due to 1% suction compressibility factor and discharge compressibility factor change. They have large effect on the flow capacity. 1% to 10% flow changes due to 1% compressor horsepower, compressor suction and discharge temperature and adiabatic efficiency change. They have medium effect on the flow capacity. The other parameters have not significant effect on the flow capacity.